Chapter 17 : Don't give up
[...]
In the center of a room, the walls of which were concealed behind multiple Japanese screens, was a demon. Tall, muscular, with gray skin and drums grafted onto his body.
He seemed to be taking his meal, feeding on a human body he had just grabbed moments earlier.
Contrary to what one might think given his build and his nature, he actually ate it rather delicately, not rushing more than that.
It wasn't because he was sadistic or relished the sight of human entrails before his eyes, but more out of habit than anything. He didn't see the point of rushing into something as trivial as eating his meal.
However, the individual in front of him didn't seem to agree.
《Is that all you eat ?》
A voice came to his ears.
A voice he knew only too well.
The demon's eyes widened in fear, before slowly raising his head to the man in front of him; dressed head to toe in white, which contrasted with his ash black hair and scarlet eyes.
《Can you explain to me the reason why you don't eat more ? Why you don't hunt as much as you used to ?》The curly-haired demon continued, raising his voice on the last part of his sentence.
Panicked, the drum demon could only stutter :
《O-oh-- No !!》He told him, instantly.《I-I... I can eat more, master !! I sw--》
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his right eye.
Indeed, the older demon had inflicted a cross-shaped wound on him at this precise place, thus crossing out the number "twelve" inscribed on his blue iris by using only the force of his thought as a technique.
After a miserable cry of pain, the drumming demon immediately brought his hand back to his face, groaning in pain as his superior glared at him.
《If you are unable to do more, I have no reason to keep you among the twelve moon demons.》He told him, in an annoyed and indifferent tone.《I withdraw your number, fend for yourself from now on.》
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This was how the drum demon lost his place among the twelve moon demons.
Indeed, the latter didn't eat a lot, and wasn't as powerful as the other moon demons, which all occupied a higher place than his.
He was still powerful. He may have been the weakest of the moon demons, but still more powerful than most other demons. He had received blood from Muzan, after all.
But that wasn't much compared to the other moon demons.
He had to get stronger.
He had to re-enter the moon demons, so that he could regain his master's respect and thank him for giving him his blood so generously. In order to prove to him that he was capable of doing something. That he, too, had talent.
And for that, he had found the perfect solution.
On April 14th 1914, he crossed paths with a very special little boy : a marechi blood.
A marechi blood was equal to at least fifty, if not a hundred people for a demon. Not only were the marechi bloods delicious, but the strength they gave them was immense, far greater than if they had devoured an average individual.
So all he had to do was devour the child, and he would have already acquired enough strength to perhaps re-attain his place in the twelve.
But...
A few "obstacles" had stood in his way.
Many of the demons in the house had also smelled the enticing scent of the marechi blood he had taken hostage, and at the thought of such a feast and all the power they might acquire, couldn't resist the urge to make it their own.
Unfortunately, during the battle, the marechi blood had escaped, thus leaving the drum demon again alone and abandoned, in addition to the multiple wounds inflicted on his body by other of his congeners.
The demon therefore wandered for long minutes in the corridors, minutes that seemed to him like hours, relentlessly seeking the marechi blood he so desperately needed.
But alas, when he found him, he was no longer alone.
He was accompanied not only by a little girl in a pink kimono; but also of another older girl, wearing a pink haori and a ponytail, standing before him as she was about to rush towards him, sword in hand.
Two individuals, whom he had also met some time earlier during his search.
And hardly had he time to take a step forward, than the slayer threw herself on him, shouting something to the two children in the room behind her before the latter changed.
He had just lost his prey again. And this time, it was the fault of a mere human girl.
[...]
April 14th 1914
04:29 PM
Drum house
Nezuko was advancing at high speed towards the demon, but without using any breath techniques.
It was certain, even if she tried, the demon would always end up attacking her first. So she might as well just get as close to him as possible to push him to do it faster.
And immediately, the demon executed himself.
'That's it, he's starting..!' She thought.
First he drummed his left shoulder twice, which the girl was prepared for.
She had thoroughly analyzed the drums and their effects during the short time she had spent with the demon earlier. Only three were still unfamiliar to her, but she still briefly remembered seeing him tap his stomach to unleash the claws, so one could say that only the drums on his legs had a use she was unaware of.
Thus, she jumped as soon as he had finished beating his drum, to then re-land a little later on the ceiling (which had become the floor) with more or less ease.
To her surprise, the demon strode into the room, taking a step forward before speaking.
《Dirty little rats...》He said in an annoyed tone, before bringing his hand back to his stomach.
Nezuko frowned a little more, apprehensively.
'Is it the claws...?'
BOOM
And indeed, it was.
A claw swipe was delivered to the exact spot where the slayer was positioned, barely giving her time to jump again to dodge it.
She somehow managed to do it all the same, having preferred to tell herself that it was indeed the claws even when she wasn't yet sure to avoid the worst.
BOOM
The demon tapped again. But this time, not on his belly.
'Spinning on the right...' She thought to herself, as the room did indeed spin to the right while she was still suspended in mid-air.
Finally, the demon tapped his left shoulder again.
'And spinning to the left...!'
Eventually, the girl re-landed on the ceiling.
'I know most of his moves...' She thought, looking up at her opponent. 'That should make my job easier...'..
'... but...'
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BOOM
The room flipped backwards, after the demon kicked his left leg.
By deduction, she could guess that the last drum; which was therefore on his right leg, was used to rotate the room forward.
Instantly, the brunette jumped back into the air preparing to land on the new floor of the room, but was startled by the demon's sudden use of claws.
Indeed, even when she was still in the air, the demon tapped on the drum of his stomach, then performing a claw in the void.
Caught off guard, she tried to dodge it as best she could by quickly turning to her right; which firstly, wasn't as simple as it seems, and secondly...
...dryly reminded her that she had broken bones.
The teen winced as she scrambled back to the "ground" a little awkwardly, as she put a hand to her side.
'M-my ribs...' She thought to herself, opening one eye to still watch the demon in the distance. 'Th-they hurt... so bad...'
But the demon had no reason to care about her problems, and then continued to beat his drums many times.
The slayer was therefore dragged all over the room, hastily dodging the few claws he threw at her and trying not to fall on her stomach or on her side; this last attempt which, moreover, became less and less easy to execute, and which she very often failed.
'... A-at first, I tried to convince myself that it wasn't that bad... I'm used to struggling with pain, after all...!' She thought, remaining suspended in the air during the rotations of the room. '... B-but... it's becoming way too painful...'
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'No matter how hard I try to think of something else, try to distract myself or just try to ignore it, I-I always end up failing... I don't know if he noticed or if Big Brother felt or smelled it, but when I met Zenitsu and when he hugged me, I felt like I was about to burst into tears as well... b-but I didn't want to push him away, he seemed in such need of comfort... I couldn't leave him alone like that...'
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'H-however, the pain is getting worse and worse since I ended my fight against the arrow demon... Even though Miss Tamayo tried her best to help me, my ribs still hurt to death...! I-I don't know how much longer I could go on like this...!!'
'If only Big Brother was there to help me-'
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Suddenly, as she landed on the ground again (which was indeed the ground this time), the brunette seemed to realize something.
As she began to fix her hand on the floor, a frown began to form on her face.
'...N-no...' She told herself, gritting her teeth in annoyance. '...What am I thinking, exactly...?!'
She then looked up at the demon in front of her.
'Big Brother doesn't have to help me every time I'm in trouble...! I have to stop relying on him...!! He has enough to worry about already... he's the one I have to protect and care for, not the other way around...!!' She thought to herself, before tightening her saber and straightening up slightly. 'I am a demon slayer...! I have no right to mope over my wounds during a fight ! If Mr Urokodaki saw that, he would surely teach me a good lesson; which would be justified...!'
'Focus, Nezuko...!! Don't let your condition make you imagine the worst-- you have no right to give up now !'
[...]
Zenitsu and Shoichi were still inside the house, still wandering the halls like spirits not given eternal rest, looking for an exit.
Following the previous fight that took place between the slayer and the long-tongued demon, the teenager was now a little less afraid; reassured that someone as "powerful" as the "Great Shoichi" was at his side. The little boy meanwhile, just followed him, still confused about what had happened.
However, something was wrong to the eyes of the youngest.
Indeed, he had the impression of seeing the same doors, the same furniture, the same decorations... no matter how many times they changed corridors, it always seemed to be the same.
'Should I tell him...?' The dark-haired boy thought, looking up at the older one in front of him. He was still analyzing everything around him in detail, shaking like a leaf even though, again, it was less than before. 'That might scare him all the more...'
The last time he spoke to him in a similar situation, the boy in the yellow haori let out a scream so high-pitched that a demon spotted them, before turning and begging him never to do that again; or at least to tell him when he was going to do it. However, this was a vicious circle, because you see, if Shoichi warned him, he would be afraid of the suddenness of the prevention. And so he will ask him to warn before warning that he was going to speak, what he would do, and what the other would be afraid of, and would ask him to warn him when he warns to warn that he was going to to speak.
In short, it was an endless loop.
But the thing is, the problem Shoichi wanted to talk about was pretty serious, and probably better said as soon as possible. Therefore, no time for preventions of preventions of preventions of speech.
So, gathering his courage, the child began to speak.
《...E-excuse me...》He said softly, hoping he wouldn't scare him too much.
Fortunately, the blond turned a little towards him in a rather normal way; though his movements were slow and that he jumped slightly at first.
He then turned completely towards him, in silence, before staring at him for a long time, as if he had been paused.
《... H-hey... don't you think we're just turning around...?》
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《...》
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《AH !!!! Y-YOU TOO ?!!》
Ah. So he had noticed it too.
Those long seconds made Shoichi think he'd said something so terrifying that he just froze in place, half-expecting him to pass out.
But just when he thought they could finally have a fairly normal conversation, his hopes were dashed the second he saw the elder's eyes twinkle with his tears.
《AHHH THIS IS A NIGHTMARE, WE'LL NEVER SEE THE END OF IT !!!!》He cried, rubbing his eyes against the sleeve of his haori before sniffling.《I knew it wasn't a good idea to enter this house...! I hope Nezuko's doing better than us...》
At those words, Shoichi lowered his gaze to the ground.
Yes, it's true. They hadn't heard from her or Teruko since they parted ways previously. He hoped nothing too serious had happened to them...
Besides, there was still his big brother... Had they found him ? Or is he still all alone ?
Or worse...
《...Nezuko...》He suddenly heard his whisper, which made him raise his head.
The teenager had his head lowered to the ground again, avoiding any eye contact with the younger one even if he was surely not doing it on purpose.
《I-I knew I wouldn't do her any good by entering this house... I was never capable of anything, anyway...》He said, as Shoichi listened intently.《 ... a-and yet, she still wanted me to come...》
《Poor her... she must be so disappointed...》
The little boy looked at him with pity.
It's true that he had been separated from the young girl before he could even do anything for her... he still hoped that she will be angry at him when they met again...
-- Well, if they ever meet again.
《... Anyway...》Zenitsu resumed, turning around to face the boy in the blue haori.《We'd better resume our research, I don't want to stay here until the end of my days-- this place is giving me goosebumps...!》
Shoichi then watched him slowly move away from him, until he froze after a number of steps.
He told himself at first that it was because he was waiting for him, and didn't want to leave him alone in the back for too long. The child then hastened to join him as quickly as he could.
But when he finally reached him, the oldest didn't seem to want to resume his walk.
Shoichi looked at him confused, not understanding why the blonde wouldn't move on, until he saw the blonde slowly turn back to him with a shiver, pointing at the door beside him.
《... S-say... can you open it for me...?》
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The child's gaze instantly lost all empathy and confusion.
It was because he was scared, huh. Hell, why hadn't he thought of that.
Immediately, the teenager realized the cold look the youngest was giving him.
《H-HEY !! DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT !!!》He cried, before turning back to the door.《Alright, alright I get it !! I'll open it myself...!》
Zenitsu then brought a trembling hand to the door to slide it aside, under the now apprehensive gaze of the little boy who waited to see what was behind it.
Zenitsu then brought a trembling hand to the door to slide it aside, under the now apprehensive gaze of the little boy who waited to see what was behind it.
But without much surprise, the two accomplices found themselves again facing a small dark and empty room, having neither traces of Nezuko or Shoichi's siblings, nor signs of any exit.
《Nothing either...》The slayer muttered, staring around the room before bringing one of his hands to his right ear.
'And there's always that unpleasant drumming sound in the air... this doesn't feel right...'
Suddenly, he took Shoichi's hand again, who looked at him in surprise before joining him in his run.
《Come on, we'll keep looking on this side...!》He told him, while he was running.
The two boys went back to looking for an exit, proceeding faster than before because of Zenitsu's bad feeling.
But hardly had they had time to reach the end of the corridor, that an unforeseen event suddenly occurred.
'E-eh ?'
The slayer in the yellow haori wondered, as he gradually lost his support on the ground.
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'T-THE CORRIDOR IS TURNING UPSIDE DOWN ?!?!'
Indeed, with a loud and sudden drumbeat, the entire hallway began to swing backwards, so that the two boys had no choice but to fall into the void-- or rather towards the door at the very end of the corridor, which had miraculously opened.
Zenitsu and Shoichi could only scream helplessly as they approached the entrance at breakneck speed, before finally crashing through it, to which their fall didn't end as they continued to fall like this for quite a while, crossing new corridors and new doors, again, again, again...
Again... again... again...
Until, all of a sudden :
'H-huh ?!'
The older one wondered.
Instead of a typical doorway, there was a large white rectangle, abundant with dazzling light, contrasting with the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the many corridors they had just passed through.
A light, which left more and more space for an exterior setting, almost making one think that it was an open window; the exit they had been looking for for quite a while.
... Yes, it really was looking like it.
A... whole lot...
Oh.
[...]
Seeing that she got up, the demon clenched his teeth.
This fight would go on forever...
They had to get it over with as soon as possible; one to eliminate the threat to Kyoshi, and the other to be able to regain his place among the twelve.
With annoyance, the demon tapped his drums again, but this time adding the little madness of tapping several drums in a row and faster than before. This way, the slayer would guess his attacks with much less ease, and he would then have a complete advantage.
He will only have to close the chapter when he is done with her story.
So as soon as he made his first move, the slayer was distracted.
Taken aback, Nezuko let herself be carried away by the movement of the room, almost falling on the wall before clinging to a chest of drawers.
But as soon as that was done, the room spun to the right, causing her to fall on her back against the right wall of the room.
The slayer barely had time to get up when a claw attack was already heading straight for her.
Hastily, she propelled herself closer to the ceiling (the wall to her right), but the attack almost grazed her leg, causing a slight scratch there.
'He's much faster than before...' She remarked, before feeling herself being sucked forward by another rotation.
Just as she was about to crash to the ground, another claw hit her, forcing her to duck by jumping back.
But it was still not over, because hardly had she had time to put her feet back on the ground that the room turned on itself once again.
Nezuko then crashed miserably on the ceiling, unable to take any action to land properly due to the suddenness of events.
Opening her eyes, the girl prepared to straighten up at least to squat, but she stopped when a sharp pain shot through her body.
'D-dang... it hurts...' She thought, groaning as she placed one of her hands against her ribs.
Directing her gaze to the demon, other thoughts came to her mind.
'A-am I really going to be able to defeat him in this state...?' She thought, before shaking her head. 'No... I-I have to defeat him, no matter how much it hurts...'
Tightening her saber in her grip, the young girl crouched down appropriately, never taking her eyes off the creature.
'I have to do this...' She encouraged herself, in her head. 'I have to...!'
Immediately, the demon attacked again.
A swipe of his claws was given right on the brunette's position, to which she jumped back to dodge.
'He's doing it again...' She thought to herself, before falling forward again due to a rotation.
However, this time she was able to cushion her fall with a little more ease than the previous times; although the landing still hurt her.
'Come on...' She thought, frowning. 'I can do it...'
And so, the demon did all kinds of attacks one after the other, trying tirelessly to destabilize the young girl to get it over with as quickly as possible.
The slayer was able to withstand the majority of the attacks, managing to avoid claw strikes and land without too much damage during rotations of the room.
But the longer it went on, the worse her condition got.
At first, it was only a few times when she had landed on her back or hurt herself by making a sudden movement. But the longer the fight lasted, the more her mistakes and her pain grew.
The demon could see that she was weakening. No matter what she might be thinking in her head, it wasn't just simple encouragement that was going to make her win.
A few drumbeats later, Nezuko found herself again in the middle of the ceiling in a squatting position, trying to catch her breath.
'...Come on... d-don't give up...' She told herself, fixing one eye on the demon. 'You mustn't give up...'
Gathering all her efforts, she tried to get up despite the pain.
'I-I have to--'
But suddenly, the demon banged one of his drums again, causing the room to spin backwards.
Nezuko let out a small cry of surprise before falling back and falling into the void.
But luckily, she managed to cling to one of the many lamps hanging from the ceiling and then avoided a fall with too much damage.
With that, the teenager let out a shaky sigh, both reassured that she hadn't fallen, but still increasingly anxious about her fight and her ribs.
'N-no... it's not okay...!!' She thought to herself, frowning further before opening her pink eyes. 'I can't win just by encouraging myself... but then...'
'... what can I do...?'
Suddenly the demon clawed again.
Seeing this, Nezuko had no choice but to drop the lamp, thus falling into the void to the back of the room.
Luckily, the closet she was heading into was open, giving her the chance to hold on to the edge of the door or the wall to avoid hurting herself.
She then hastened to seize this opportunity by clinging to the edge of the door frame, then let out a slight sigh of relief. She at least managed to do one thing.
'I have to find a solution... anything...' She thought, as she tried to climb back up the wall. 'Come on, think...'
As she scrambled back up the wall with difficulty, the demon's gaze darkened even more.
'Damn it...!' He thought, glaring at her. 'She's tough !!'
This fight had gone on for far too long now. He just attacked her again and again with the same attacks, and she kept dodging them again and again, even though he could see that she wanted to get it over with it quickly too.
What was she hoping for ? That he would eventually forget his marechi blood as time passed ? In this case, she couldn't be more far from the truth. He had only been thinking about his prey since the beginning of the fight, and was now starting to get seriously impatient.
All she was doing was hindering him. He could easily have reached the child quickly if she hadn't been there.
Because of her, he was losing more and more time, and was probably getting further and further away from his prey.
Because of her...
'Filthy insect !!'
Angered, the demon immediately turned the hall around with his drum, returning it to its original position.
Nezuko therefore fell again, but couldn't hold on to anything this time and then fell hard on her right side.
But the latter didn't even have time to get up when the demon was already shouting in her face.
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《GIVE UP !》
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The slayer's eyes widened.
"Give up"...?
Why was he asking her that ? It was obvious that she wasn't going to give in to him, even if he asked her to...
But something sounded so...desperate in his voice.
《 YOU ARE EXHAUSTING YOURSELF FOR NOTHING ! YOUR EFFORTS WILL NOT PAY !》He continued, sounding enraged.《YOU ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR THIS FIGHT ! EVEN IF YOU FIGHT WITH ALL MIGHT, YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT !!! YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME !! I WILL TAKE BACK MY PLACE AMONG THE TWELVE MOON DEMONS ANYWAY !》
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《SO GIVE UP !!!!》
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《Give up.》
A man nonchalantly threw dozens of pages on the floor.
As if it were nothing. As if what was written there had neither importance nor value.
《You don't have the talent for this. Your writings have no flavor.》He continued, as the young man in front of him was on his knees, staring blankly at the scattered sheets.《You can't write, make up your mind. The only thing you know how to do is play your drums. At least do something with your life with the little you have.》
Kyogai didn't answer.
He just stood there, silent, not daring to raise his head towards the one who was criticizing him.
He had spent hours, days, entire nights writing this story. Not that it bothered him, though. He liked to write. Truly. So much so that he had naively thought he could make a career out of it.
Unfortunately for him, the real world was no fairy tale.
Not everyone was tender and understanding. Especially in the field of work.
People didn't care about the effort he supposedly put into writing his story. All that mattered was the result, and nothing else.
And once the sentence was given, it only remained for him to execute.
After all, what's the point of continuing ?
Was it his dream ?
His passion ?
Come on.
Nothing is all pink and rainbows in life. It's all about power.
If we are in a superior position to others, we can do anything.
On the other hand, if you have the misfortune to be part of the average; or even worse, having a position inferior to others, then nothing can be done.
That's why as soon as this professor had his back turned, he killed him.
Because if this man was superior to him in their relationship and status, he was still inferior in their nature. A demon was immensely more powerful than a human, after all. What could have prevented him from taking his life ?
This professor had also abused his superiority. It goes without saying that he could do the same.
But where the teacher had passed away in response to his student's superiority, the demon had also listened to his teacher's last words.
In the future years that followed, he never again touched a pen and a sheet of paper.
He just contented himself with playing the drums. Just as he had asked him.
[...]
Nezuko continued to stare at the demon in silence. A little stunned by his words.
'His place among the twelve moon demons...?' She repeated in her mind. 'S-so he was...'
Then, she began to tighten her grip on her black-bladed sword, before slowly getting up.
While the demon desperately hoped that she would give in and leave him alone, or even thought that she would start attacking him again, the girl simply spoke up, responding to his request.
《Are you asking me to "give up"...?》She began, before putting on a determined expression on her face.
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《... What next...?!》
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The demon frowned further, staring at the brunette in the distance, who was also glaring at him.
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《I have a mission to accomplish, people who are counting on me, people who need me... that boy you like to call "marechi-blood" is trusting me to come back and get him out of here alive, he's counting on me to give him back the happy life he used to lead... and you think I could let him down that easily...?!》
《When I have a duty to do, a task to accomplish, someone to save or protect, I don't give up along the way ! I'll continue to fight again and again; even if I have to suffer, even if I have to fall to the ground, vomit, lose a limb or pass out, I will always get up and fight no matter what !!》
《When you want something, you must fight for it and hold on the whole way !!! So no, I won't give up !! Neither for this fight, nor for all the others to come !》
《I will never give up !》
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Yes. She wouldn't give up.
Nor to save these children. Nor to help those she loves. Nor to help, protect and heal her brother from his curse.
She had neither the choice nor the inclination to give up. Never.
The demon's eyes widened.
"When you want something, you must fight for it and hold on."
According to her, he should have done that, at the time when he was writing ?
Try, again and again, for years, centuries, millennia perhaps...? And not give up on his dream along the way like he did ?
... He didn't know.
He no longer knew.
In any case, now wasn't the time to think about the past.
For now, it was best to focus on the present.
If she wanted him to fight with all his might to get what he wanted, then she had succeeded.
He was tired of waiting. Tired of being the loser, tired of never getting what he wanted.
So instead of giving up on this marechi-blood now that she had told him she wouldn't give up herself, he too would fight with all his might to get what he wanted.
Because that was all he had left anyway.
So, after this speech, the fight resumed.
Taken with rage by this fight which dragged on and with great determination, the demon banged again on the drum grafted to his belly, which allowed him to claw.
The claws then went straight in the direction of the slayer, but luckily, the latter avoided it by jumping to the side.
Instead, the claws slammed into the cabinet behind Nezuko, ripping all the pages and books inside and sending them flying through the air.
But Kyogai didn't care. They were vulgar leaves, after all. All his hard work was worth nothing and will never be worth anything.
All he cared about was him defeating that girl.
After another drumbeat, this time turning the room to the right, Nezuko landed on the wall with more or less ease.
'He's getting back to it...' She thought to herself, as she watched him from afar.
She then looked up at the ground, observing the claw marks caused by the drumbeat as well as the sheets that were gradually settling on the ground.
'The claws are more numerous...' She remarked, frowning. 'I'll have to be even more careful...'
Suddenly, the room was spun again, dragging the young Kamado and the flying sheets to the wall in the back.
But before she could get her feet on the wall, the demon spun the room again; thus putting her back exactly as she was before.
Fortunately, she managed to land without too much grip in a crouched position, in the middle of the sheets scattered on the ground around her.
'That was close...' She thought, sighing as quietly as possible so as not to give the demon too much confidence.
She then opened her eyes still fixed on the ground, getting ready to get up...
Before a certain detail catched her eye.
Looking at a sheet in front of her, she had no choice but to realize what it was all about as she glanced at the long paragraphs and the neat handwriting on the paper.
'These are...' She told herself.
The girl's eyes widened instantly. She didn't fully understand why and how there were sketches of tales in this room or even more generally in this house, nor did she make the connection with the demon in front of her. But she still realized that someone's writings were in that room.
However, she didn't have time to take a reading break since the demon attacked her again by turning the room on its side before giving her a large claw.
Like the previous times, the young girl avoided the attack with more or less ease before landing again on the "ground". This was how the fight had been for several minutes now, and the demon was trying to do everything to increase the level of difficulty so he could make her give in.
However, just as she was about to set foot on the wall, something caught the creature's attention in turn.
Indeed, the sheets had also been transported on the wall. He'd destroyed the wardrobe without really thinking, and thought she didn't really care about his stories either.
That's why, since it was such a small detail, he thought she'd forget. That she would inadvertently step on it and eventually slip, or even step on it harmlessly and just cause a little damage to the feelings of the demon he was trying so hard to suppress.
But that wasn't the case.
Instead, the girl took care to dodge every sheet as she landed, even though it required more effort and concentration.
The thing is, Nezuko would feel terribly bad for whoever wrote all those tales. It seemed very disrespectful to her to step on someone's work, she didn't want to treat all the effort that someone had made to write as worthless; or with a value so low that you could easily put your feet on them to look down on them.
Whoever wrote these tales worked hard to do so. It was the fruit of long and hard work, so she would never dare to step on it, even if it would make her fight easier.
After all, it was as if after all her two years of training and the seven day final selection, someone she didn't know had come to tell her that all her hard work was worthless. That everything she had endured during those two years after the death of her family was irrelevant. That her brother's transformation into a demon didn't deserve so much attention, nor did he deserve her determination and effort.
That everything she had been through so far wasn't important.
She didn't know what had become of the author of these stories; whether they were dead or alive, young or old, human or demon... but none of that mattered to her.
No matter who or what we were, all of our actions and efforts have value. And no one should have the right to judge or mock them, human or demon.
And while that wasn't a very big move, it was also nothing more than a detail that could easily be overlooked, for some reason he preferred to ignore...
He was grateful to her.
For her part, Nezuko finally found a space where she could put her two feet.
She then looked up at the gray-skinned man in front of her, expecting him to attack her again immediately.
But that wasn't the case.
Instead, the demon was just staring at her in silence, not in anger, but rather in amazement.
It was a big change from the look he usually gave her. She even found him rather likeable at that moment.
But her mission still remained to eliminate him. She couldn't get too lost in her emotions.
So she thought about how she could end this fight once and for all, still frowning at the creature, but still having a much more softened look than before.
'The biggest difficulty in this fight lies in the rotations of the room...' She reflected. 'My techniques all require to breathe in a certain way and focusing on the movement of our body and that of the opponent... So not having a stable surface to stand on makes controlling the breathing all the more difficult...'
'... So I need to find a movement that can adapt to this situation... a quick technique to perform that doesn't rely on a support like the ground... b-but...'
'... which one...?'
But just as she thought he wouldn't attack again, the demon suddenly seemed to come out of his thoughts before continuing to pound his drums.
The room thus turned around again, causing her to fall into the void once again on the other side of the room. But luckily, for some reason she didn't know, the demon was still less violent in his attacks.
Something... seemed to have changed.
'I think about it over and over again, but nothing comes to my mind...' She thought, landing. 'I know that my ribs prevent me from being as efficient as usual both physically and morally, but I'm seriously starting to doubt...'
With that, Nezuko shook her head, as if to collect her ideas.
'N-no ! I mustn't think like that...' She told herself, tightening the hilt of her sword. 'There must be a solution... There must be one !'
'Mr Urokodaki once told me that water could take any form...! So there's necessarily a technique whose form would go with this fight ! For sure !!'
Thus, she began to go through all the Water Breathing moves she had learned, relentlessly searching for a solution to her problem.
'The first four movements as well as the sixth all require a certain momentum from me which I cannot take under these circumstances...' She thought to herself. 'So I can eliminate those directly... As for the rest, I have to analyze them too...'
'The fifth doesn't seem appropriate for the situation... I would like to have the opportunity to use it more often, but I can't afford to do it all the time...'
'The seventh will only hurt him the best, it's not enough to end the fight...'
'For the eighth, it would be better if I was in height, at least higher than him, but given his height and the fact that he's at the front door, it's quite badly blocked...'
'So I still have the ninth and the...'
.
.
.
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
'... The...' She thought, before quickly raising her head to her target. 'The ninth !!'
'This is the perfect move for this fight ! How did I not think of this sooner ?!'
The slayer therefore rose from the ground, standing facing the demon, her face full of determination.
'Now will be the time !'
Faced with this, the demon who had become unconsciously more forgiving realized his mistake.
Darn it... he had spared her for too long... long enough to give her a chance to win...
Because of that, he should resolve to lose again. And this time, forever.
... No...
He shouldn't think like that either.
There was still time... he could still throw her off balance, trip her, hurt her... He could still do all that, he could still have a chance...
A chance to win.
He mustn't give up, even though the end might be near. Maybe something would turn in his favor at the last moment, and he wouldn't know until then.
As she had told him, he had to fight until the end for what he wanted.
Even if he had had enough, even if he thought he was on the verge of death, he had to keep going, no matter what.
He wouldn't give up too... so that maybe he would win once in his life.
As soon as he started banging his drums again, the girl began to leap into the air while beginning her breathing technique.
The room was now moving in all directions, making any support on the walls almost impossible. He also clawed wherever she landed, even if it was only for a tiny second...
He wouldn't miss any opportunity to finish her, he wouldn't miss any chance.
But unfortunately for him, the brunette had chosen her shot well.
Indeed, the ninth movement of the Water Breathing didn't require long presses on any solid surface. It minimized landing time and area needed to allow the slayer using it to move faster.
It was the perfect move for this fight.
'Total Concentration : Water Breathing;' She repeated the formula in her head. 'Ninth form...'
Without him really realizing it, Nezuko had come considerably closer to him, and was now only a tiny distance from his body.
Surely he hadn't noticed her because of the trail of water behind her. But now that he saw her so close to him, sword in hand and about to achieve victory...
Something inside him froze in fear.
And, seeing this opening, the slayer in the pink haori now only had to slash.
'Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent !'
Author's Notes
- Ahh it took me a long time to write it qAq
With the holidays and all the Christmas and New Year stuff, I hadn't managed to finish it in December and had to continue it during the month of January... I hope I can write the next chapter quickly and not have to do it in February, I'm already late-
(But I think I'm going to enjoy writing chapter 18 more than what I just did for 17 anyway! :D So it should be fine...!
Right ?)
- The title of this chapter, "Don't give up" can be either for Nezuko or for Kyogai according to your wishes ! It may even be for Zenitsu and Shoichi who got stuck in the middle of this whole thing and held on until they found the exit haha !
- Much like Tanjiro in the canon, Nezuko preferred to endure the pain in her ribs rather than crying out loud in front of Zenitsu :")
But as you might have noticed, she still takes a bit more pity on him than her older brother in the original haha"
I also wanted to make her think that she would like to get help from her brother, before of course pulling herself together and telling herself that she has to do this on her own like a big girl !
I wanted to show how easy it would be for her to tell herself that Tanjiro could help her, that he could be there, that he could settle this with her... at the slightest difficulty, it is easier to want help from someone else, in this case Tanjiro.
Not that Tanjiro would mind helping her out, we all know he'd be more than happy to help his little sister and make sure she gets away with it without too much damage. But Nezuko knows that their family has also relied on him a lot in previous years.
Although everyone was at work in their family, as the eldest, he already had a much greater responsibility than the others in their siblings. He had taken on a certain father figure for the younger ones, and took on more and more responsibilities as time passed.
One of Nezuko's goals in my universe is to somehow try to take some weight off her brother's shoulders, to relieve him of some of the responsibilities of being an elder.
But hey... it must also be said that putting everything on her shoulders won't entirely solve the solution either... but she should realize that, which isn't certain.
- Just to say that, I love the Zenitsu-Shoichi duo.
Do what you want with this information, I just had to say it.
- I think Kyogai is a super-interesting character !
Many people can identify with him, and I think that's a good thing :)
To be honest, I have no idea if Tanjiro "encouraged" Kyogai the same way in canon... I know he did a little speech like Nezuko did, but I don't know if it had the same impact
Maybe that pissed him off? I know he had a dirty face after the redhead spoke haha ;u;
But here it's not too much the case, Nezuko somehow encouraged him, although it was unconscious. It wasn't really a provocation for him or a direct attack, but more like a message she delivered to him directly.
Indeed, he spent his life losing. We know that he lost his place among the twelve because he didn't eat enough and wasn't strong enough, that he lost his chance to live his dream because he wasn't talented enough...
He tries to fight to regain his place among the twelve, but we see that he would rather just tell Nezuko to give up than beat her to the core and get what he really wants.
That's not how it works. If he doesn't fight hard enough, if he doesn't put in enough effort to do or get what he wants, he will never win. He had to fight with all his might to at least be equal to Nezuko in the end, and honestly, if he hadn't flinched at the very end, he probably would have won.
All it would have needed was a little scratch of the claws, or a slight step aside! These small gestures could have caused the defeat to Nezuko, but unfortunately he did not take it into account :")
- Alright, well here you go! :D
I had the impression that this chapter was quite long at the beginning and wanted to cut it somewhere even if I thought it would be a bit long to cut the fight into two more chapters :")
But in fact, it's not longer than the previous chapter, and is nowhere near the size of chapter 1 (which was quite long lmaoo but long chapters are great QvQ)
Hope you enjoyed! See you soon in April :D